Instinct of sensual pleasure has
become somewhat a natural trait of mundane life , although it can never be the
characteristic of the soul . Soul , by nature as we know , is all happiness and
joy . Persons who are ambitious to attain it in this very life , retire in
seclusion and observe renunciation and maditation . They are to lead a saintly
life ; but the common man cannot at once become a saint . Hence for a common
man there is a regulated course of conduct based on Ahimsa ethics . Of course ,
common man has also to remember well that ambitions and desires are not his , -
nor they are the things of his soul , rather they are due to the pollution of
the soul by wrong belief , wrong speech and wrong action . Thus acquired these
desires and passions become so predominant in life that the real essence of
soul becomes subservient to them . The will of man , thus , is an instrument of
expression of his animate sensual craving and not a characteristic of the soul
. It is mostly our physical body which prompts to fashion our will and the poor
common man little knows that he is not acting for the good and enlightenment of
his soul , when he listens to the biddings of his sweet will , in order to fulfill
the gross and sinful desires pertaining to sensual gratification .

The common man forgets that his
likings and dislikes are founded rather upon humour and fancy than upon reason
. Usually the common men follow their wishes and desires till suffering compels
them to follow their judgement of discrimination between good and evil . Such a
man loves himself more than all the rest of men and always seeks to fulfill his
nefarious and selfish ambitions , which cause disorder and unrest in the society
. Of course it is apparent that animate instinct of sensual craving called
Maithun Samjna by the Jaina Thinkers , works in its own way in every living
being in this universe , but man is expected to think and act in a rational way
, since he is the highest developed living creature : as such he should not be
swayed by the will of his sensual urging . As a man , he should enjoy life ;
but with a Right Belief in Soul and Matter , which creates an Ahimsaist
disposition in him . For such a Right Believer the following of the Tirthankara
is full of meaning :

 All the objects , the body , the
house , the wealth , the life , the son , the friend , the enemy and the like
are all quite different in their nature from the soul . Only a foolishman
however , would look upon them as his own . In fact , they are no help and no
protection to him . 

However , the wonder is that today the
common man disregards this Truth and blindly follows the unnatural way of life
. He forgets that a regulated and pure life is more comfortable and easy to
live . A Jaina sage sounds a nice warning in the following stanzas :

 There is no demerit in enjoying
pleasure , but there is demerit in doing what tends to destroy their source .
Indigestion is not caused by sweet food , but by eating beyond its limit . When
thou takest a pleasure in all this hunting , adultery etc ., which produce much
fear in the very begining , which evidently cause pain and which are pursued by
sinner , why dost thou not take the same view of piety , which is for the good
of both the ( present and

future )
worlds , which is pursued by those who are rich in wisdom and have not
abandoned senseenjoyment . 

It is wise , therefore , to live a
life regulated on the ethical foundation of Ahimsa ; so that a common man may
become righteous and an asset for the betterment of human society . By adopting
a regulated self-controlled life alone , the righteous  Shall shine forth as
the Sun in the Kingdom of the Heaven .  Christianity , too , warns the common
man to be alert to righteous and avoid the following seven sins towards their
Lord : --

An heart that deviseth wicked
imaginations feet that be swift in running to mischief ;

A false witness that speaketh lies ,
and he that soweth discord among brethren . 

------ ( Bible proverbs 6 )

Hence  Blessed are the pure in heart
; for they shall see God .  And  blessed are the peace- makers for they shall
be the children of God .

------- ( Matthew , v. I. 10 )

But where could be seen these children
of God among the occidentals ? The modern civilisation and culture has dazzled
the eyes of people by materialistic achievements and they are unable to see and
estimate the value of a righteous life . They know nothing of the Ahimsa
Culture . Eat , drink and be merry , -is the way the modern world lives and
likes . People think that man is on the highest ring of evolution and it can be
well justified , for his survival if any form of life suffers for him . These
materialistic notions can never stand in line with the teachings of Ahimsa
Culture , Modern man should learn again , to be meek and merciful . He should
not shed innocent blood , either of man or animal , for the sake of his sensual
appetite ; when the same can be satiated by other means . Over-indulgence in
sensual pleasures is a sin and this has led the world to great misery and
distress .

Fashion is another factor which has
created havoc in society , because it is for fashions sake that hundreds and
thousands of poor creatures are being mercilessly butchered every day . Man is
becoming sick of this dreadful life ; yet he has no Right Path to follow .
Everyday today wants to return to a comfortable life of decency : modesty ,
love and discipline . They also want to reform the fashion and social custioms
. Though they wish to hide their sexual urge , yet it has so over-whelmed them
that they are no better than animals , rather they are worse from them , for
animals resort to sexual intercourse in their seasonal periods only and they
never lose themselves so badly as to become deteriorated physically . But look
at the man , whose passion has made him sexual-minded for all seasons in life .
Such man destory their vitality in sexual gratification ; not for bearing
children but simply to fulfil their sensual desire . They forgot that true
pleasure is never to be had from outer thing , because it is not inherent in
them . Real thing which happens , is this that the urge of desire or sensual
craving been removed by its fulfilment , a tinge of the Souls inner happiness
is felt ; which being momentary shades away duly and a thirst for pleasure
continues . Desires never end . A dog chewing a bone bleeds its mouth and feels
a pleasure in it . Yet , the poor creature little knows that it is its own
blood , which it licks and wrongly feels that bone is the source of its
pleasure . Similar is the condition with human beings . Man being led blindly
by his wrong belief , has become a prey of desires and craving . Having lost
the balance of judgement , man is mad to indulge in pleasure pursuits . Thereby
he kills his own soul and also causes injury to other life ; because desire in
itself is Himsa ( Injury ) . Over-indulgence in sexual gratification and the
lack of self-control , have created a new problem of over-population and the
false means of birth control are being preached . But these are the causes for
the degradation of the Society at large .

Desire , in fact , is the gratest
devil , which allures minds to lower tastes and ideals and makes them mere
slaves of instincts and passions . Such weaklings today abound in excess and
they are looking to cheap and unsocial devices of birth-control which being
un-natural will only degenerate the general moral and health of the people .
Self-controlled men of moral courage are dwindling in number every day . Then
how can a set of isms  like Socialism
or Communism , put the things right ? These  isms  try to tackle the problem
only from outside ; since they only aim at a material or economical reform of
the society without touching the inner souls of individuals who constitute the
society . Their ideals are praiseworthy , but their means for the achievement
of those ideals are not sound . These revolutionaries are endesvouring to bring
an equalisation amongst the members of the Society by brutal force and
political chaos . They kill and rob innocent citizens and thus are no less
dangers than the fanatic sectarians who take pleasure in killing and robbing
those who are not of their creed . But they forget that methods of violence ,
and chaos never lead to evolution ; they only breed contempt disgust and
dissatisfaction . Hence in order to bring a sound equalisation among the human
beings , it is essential to spread Right Knowledge about life , its destination
, the way of its progress and evolution which will lead the man to think and
act in a human and rational way . This will change the heart of man and satisfy
his intellect . While , on the other hand , materialistic desires and
pursuasions , always offer only substitutes to the Personality Consciousness in
place of the Reality ; which like the Kingdom of Heaven , lies within the Man . Therefore , if the creation of an ideal Society
is desirable , then the common man the basic unit of Society must confine his
thoughts to acquire the Right Knowledge of himself and the world around ,
through the guidence of Ahimsa . Then and then only , he willnot create Atom or
Hydrogen bombs ; but he will endeavour to lead humanity to the kingdom of Heaven ! Then the man will act with self-control and in a spirit of detachment
, thus glorifying God in him .

Therefore so long as the individual
succumbs to the urgings of senses , the Desire , he can never discover the evil
it brings . It cripples its Soul and the individual never realises the harm
which it causes . Because , he never feels that desire is not the essence of
the Soul , but is a sort of disease . Hence to fulfill desires is to exchange
misery for bliss . It has brutalized the human nature , with the result of
worldwide suffering . The dignity of man itself requires obedience to the
higher law of the Spirit , which is Ahimsa . Mahatma Gandhi once remarked that
:

 The human body is meant solely for
service never for indulgance . All great religious have rightly regarded Kama ( desire ) as the arch enemy of man . Without overcoming lust man cannot
hope to rule over Self . The conquest of lust is the highest endeavour of a man
or a womans existence . To have no control over the senses , is like sailing
in a rudderless ship , bound to break to pieces on coming in contact with the
very first rock . 

In fact , a free indulgance in
gratification of sexual craving and desires , is no better than the putting on
of golden shackels , but whether golden or iron , shackels are after all
shackels . Where is the self-respect of man and how can he claim to be a free
citizen , when he is hand and foot bound by desires ? Wonderfully the common
man today delights under these fetters and hugs them like a precious thing . He
knows little that thereby he has become a siave to his lower nature and the
triumph of Satan over him is complete ! He forgets that self-discipline are the
very first conditions of being free . The secret of a free and happy life , is
hidden in the teachings of self-restraint . Tirthankara Mahavira set an example
of ideal life and self-restraint by his renunciation . He proclaimed that :

 Man , exert and control your self .
Subdue your Self , the Self is difficult to subdue . If Your self is subdued ,
you will be happy in this world and in the next . 

(
Uttaradhyayana Sutra , 15.1. )

In an ideal society each and every
member of it , whether a man or a woman , should possess the Right Knowledge
and Right Conduct ; thereby observing the lofty ideals of Universal Love ,
Truth , Non-attachmant , Service and Sacrifice . Ideal mothers will teach ,
rather will make the babe imbide these ideals in themselves in their laps . In
such an ideal society only , everyday would feel to think , speak and act in a
true spirit of comradeship . Ahimsa would dispel the ignorance and false ideas
of nationality etc. Then there would be no outside restriction , state bindings
or controls . Marriage would be a sacrament to improve the life of individuals
by remaining satiated with ones wife or husband and rendering selfless service
to one and all . Progency of such idealistic parents would live to work for the
spiritual as well as material advancement and progress of mankind as a whole .
In such an ideal society the life of our lesser brethren the animals and birds
also would be safe and free .